Loading...
Invited commentary: Secondhand smoke-an underrecognized risk factor for cognitive decline
Anstey, Kaarin J. Chen, Ruoling
Anstey, Kaarin J.
Chen, Ruoling
Authors
Editors
Other contributors
Affiliation
Epub Date
Issue Date
2018-01-12
Submitted date
Subjects
Files
Alternative
Abstract
Pan et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2018;187(5):911-918) reported findings that exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) was associated with cognitive decline over the course of 2 years among middle-aged and older Chinese women who never smoked, and they also reported a dose-response relationship. SHS exposure affects vulnerable people disproportionately because they have less control or choice over their living and working environment. Smoking is an established risk factor for dementia, but recent evidence reports on dementia-risk increase have not included SHS. Many epidemiologic studies collect data on smoking but not SHS exposure. SHS may be one of the most prevalent and modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and therefore represents a major potential target for reduction of dementia risk. Given the high prevalence of smoking in China and other parts of the world, there is an urgent need to raise awareness of SHS reduction as part of global and national strategies to reduce cognitive decline and dementia and to introduce legislation that protects nonsmokers and vulnerable children and adults from SHS.
Citation
Publisher
Journal
Research Unit
PubMed ID
29370342
PubMed Central ID
Embedded videos
Additional Links
Type
Journal article
Language
en
Description
Series/Report no.
ISSN
0002-9262